Oh, I love that song. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
9? Hebrews chapter 9. I'd like to begin reading in
verse 24 and read down to the end of the chapter. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others. For then must he have often suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now you will notice in the reading
of that passage of scripture three appearances of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One in the past, one in the present,
and one in the future. In verse 24, we read of a present
appearance. For Christ has not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself now, right now, while I'm speaking. Now
to appear in the presence of God for us. And then we read
of a past appearance in the latter part of verse 26. Now, once in
the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. That's a past appearance. And
then we read of a future appearance in verse 28. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin. unto salvation. Three appearances of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, what do these appearances
mean to me? And maybe a better way to say
that is what do these three appearances mean to a sinner? I speak as
a sinful man, one who commits sin, one who commits sins. What do these three appearances
mean to me in light of that? Now, these appearances give this
sinner speaking to you some hope. Now I'd like to consider them
in the order that the writer to the Hebrews mentions them.
Look in verse 24, for Christ is not entered into the holy
place made with hands, which are the figures of the true.
They're not the true, they're simply figures, but into heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now consider this word now. There is an appearance that is
in the present. It is now. It's always in the
now. It's always been in the now. Before time was, it is. When time shall be no more, it
is. And God's people have always
been represented by this present tense appearance. While when
I was chosen, I was chosen in the Lamb's flame from the foundation
of the world. And my standing is always going
to be in the Lord Jesus Christ, in this appearance, this present
appearance where it says He appears now, right now for us, for me. For us, for every believer, I
love thinking of it that way. I mean, you can't separate one
believer and other believers. We're one body. one body, one
family, but I also like thinking of me, to think that He mentions
my name before the Father, that He represents me before the Father. Now, who is the us? It says,
He is not entered into the holy places made with heavens, which
are figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Who is the us that He represents? Well, this is every believer. This is God's elect. He does
not intercede for all men. He said in John 17, 9, I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me. As a matter
of fact, He intercedes, and that word intercedes means pleads
for or pleads against. He intercedes against some men. He prays for some men and He
prays against other men. Let me show you that in Scripture.
Turn to Psalm 69. Well, I want the Lord to be praying
for me, don't you? I don't want Him to be praying against me,
because if He's praying against me, I've got no hope. I must have
this one praying for me. Psalm 69, verse 21. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Now, this
is talking about the cross, obviously. He's talking about when they
gave Him vinegar to drink in answer to the What happened on
the cross? Now, this is the same one speaking
as he speaks from the cross. He says, let their table become
a snare before them. And that which should have been
for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened
that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. Pour
out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take
hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate,
and let none dwell in their tents, for they persecute him whom thou
hast smitten." These are the words of the Lord Jesus directly,
aren't they? They persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they
talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity
unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be
written with the righteous." Now, He is interceding against
these people, and these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, why bring that up? The main purpose is this. If
He prays for you, you're saved. Everybody He prays for is saved. If He prays against you, you
deserve that. You ought to be in hell. If He
prays against somebody, oh, shall not the judge of the earth do
right? But if He prays for you, you must be saved. Now, what's He doing as He appears
in heaven for us? Those who believe God's elect,
He's making intercession. Hebrews 7.25 says, Wherefore
He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Romans 8.32-34 says, He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. If God justified me, I'm justified. Who is He that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. making petition for us. Now, there is no condemnation
to those for whom He makes intercession, for those He pleads for, for
those He represents, and it's a present, a present intercession. When Christ said, Peter, I prayed
for you, He says the same thing of every believer. He says, Todd,
I prayed for you. Isn't it wonderful to think of
the Lord mentioning your name before the Father? You know,
when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies. He had a
breastplate with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. He represented
a specific people. And oh, to think of the Lord
praying for me, representing me. Now, turn with me to 1 John
chapter 2. You know, when I was looking
at this passage of Scripture, I thought, I need to make sure
this is really saying what it's saying. Because if it is, it's
great. This is glorious. If it's really
saying what it's... Is it? Well, let's look at this
passage of Scripture together. Verse 1. My little children,
these things write I unto you, that you sin not. Now, that's God's will for me
and you. To not sin. to not sin. It is never the will of God for
me or you to commit sin. His will for us is to be obedient. It's to be just like Christ. There's never an excuse for sin
and you and I are to make it our goal, our objective, our
purpose right now from henceforth to never sin again. Wouldn't that be wonderful to
never sin again? to be without sin. And John says, here's why
I'm writing to you. I'm writing these things to you
for this purpose, that you sin not. Now, write her down. That's God's purpose for you.
Sin is never okay. Oh, sin is an infinite evil.
And he writes to us that we might not sin. Now, let's go on reading.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
not, and if any man sin." Now see that word, if? That same
word is translated in verse 2 of 1 John chapter 3, when? It could just as easily be said,
when? Not if, when you do. when you do. When you sin, it
says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the
righteous. There is never an excuse for
sin, guilty as charged, but when you do sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Now notice what it doesn't say.
It doesn't say we will have an advocate if we repent. It doesn't say we will have an
advocate if we're sorry. It doesn't say we will have an
advocate if we do something to bring ourselves back into a favorable
position. Doesn't say anything like that.
It says when you sin, we have. Not we will have. Not we will
have if. To every believer, we have an
advocate with the Father. Now we have this advocate before
the sin. We have this advocate with the
father during the sin, and we have this advocate with the father
after the sin. We always have this advocate
with the father. There's nothing we need to do
to get him to be our advocate. He already is our advocate. And notice what it says. It says,
if any man sin, we have an advocate, not with our judge, but with
our father. Now to those for whom he is nothing
but a judge, they have no advocate. But every believer has an advocate
with their father. Now what is an advocate? One
who gives aid. One who pleads another's cause. An intercessor. And we don't
read of anything we do after the sin to restore us or to bring
us into a favorable relationship with the Father. Nothing to do,
nothing to make amends. We have this advocate with the
Father and our advocate is Jesus Christ, the righteous. I love that name of His, Jesus
Christ, the righteous. Oh, He's altogether righteous. His name is Jesus. You know what
that name means? Oh, what a precious name. Precious
is the name of Jesus. Oh, it's so precious because
it means Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. We just heard
in that song of the sins that oppress us. And my sins oppress
me. Oh, they oppress me. Oh, I...
He's going to save me from my sins. He has saved me from my
sins. We have an advocate with the
father, Jesus Christ. The anointed one anointed by
the father for this very thing to be an advocate, anointed to
be a savior, Jesus Christ, the righteous. You see, he's no crooked
lawyer. He's altogether righteous. And
this advocate, this lawyer, this intercessor with the father,
he's never lost a case. Not only has he never lost a
case, he's incapable of losing one. Now how would you like to
have someone like that representing you before the father? And think
of his relationship with the father. He's the father's son. He's the Son of God. This advocate
we have is the Son of God. And He doesn't need loopholes
or leniency for His clients. He doesn't need to find different
ways in order to get them out of trouble and stall and try
to go this direction, that direction. No, not at all. He doesn't need
leniency or loopholes to get His clients off. And here's what
He does with His clients, and this is so glorious. Every believer
is His client. He's the advocate. He's the lawyer
with the Father. And He makes all of His clients plead guilty. That's not what human lawyers
do, they say, not guilty, even when you've done it, not guilty,
try to get out of it, not guilty. He makes every single one of
his clients plead guilty, guilty, guilty, and yet the judge pronounces
them to be justified, not guilty, without guilt. guilt. Now that is some kind of lawyer. Now to have him appearing now
in the presence of God for us, all is well, isn't it? Do you love his appearing? His
appearing now in the presence of God as your representative. Now how can he do that? How can
he make me plead guilty and yet I'm declared by the great judge,
the Lord God of glory to be not guilty. How can he do that? He does. How? Well, this is seen
in his second appearing. Look in verses 25 and 26 of our
text in Hebrews chapter 9. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often, As the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with the blood of others, for then must he have
often suffered since the foundation of the world. But now, once in
the end of the world, hath he appeared. This is talking about
his appearing and his incarnation in the cross. Now, once in the
end of the world, you know, ever, ever, ever since the Lord's born,
it's been the end times. We're in the end times right
now, maybe right at the end of the end times. I hope so. But
we've been in the end days, the last days ever since the appearing
of our Lord Jesus. But now once in the end of the
world, has he appeared to what? To put away sin. to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Now, He didn't have to do this
often like the high priests of old. They had to do it every
year because their sacrifices never put away sin. Sin was always
still there. But He has put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. And I love this description in
verse 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of what? Many. Many. You know, it seems
like the number of God's elect at any time on the earth is always
represented as a remnant, doesn't it? A small number. I mean, look
at Noah's days. There were eight people. But
when it's all said and done, It's a many. The Lord died for
a whole lot of people. Scripture says in heaven there's
going to be 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands singing
this great song. He appeared to put away the sins,
to take away the sins of many. Not everybody, but many. And
what did He do by this one sacrifice? He put away sin. The sins that I've committed
even this day, He put them away. They're gone. The sins that I
will commit tomorrow, He put away. That word put away is translated
in Hebrews 7.18, dis-annulled. Dis-annulled. He thwarted their
efficacy. He completely annihilated them. He made them not to be. Now, in order to be convicted
of a crime, you have to have something to be convicted of. And in the Lord Jesus Christ,
every believer has nothing to be convicted of. I am justified. Do you ever get tired of hearing
that? You know, I really don't. I am justified. I am perfectly
righteous before God. I have no sin because He put
it away. My advocate does not plead for
a guilty person. My advocate pleads for one who
is not guilty because my sin was put away. Look in 1 John
chapter 3. Verse 4, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Any
lack of perfect conformity to the Ten Commandments is sin. You want to know what sin is? Any lack of perfect conformity
to the Ten Commandments is sin. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Verse 5, And you know that He
was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Turn to II Timothy chapter 1. Here we have this word appearing
again. Verse 9, Who has saved us and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but now is made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And here's what
he did in his appearing. He abolished death because he
took away the reason for death. When he removed the sin, he removed
the reason for death. The reason I'm never going to
be condemned for my sin is because I don't have any. He took it
away. He hath abolished death and he hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. Now, the sin that
I hate has been put away. Now, do you remember that story
about David? David committed adultery and premeditated
murder. And those are biggies. Those
are biggies. I mean, anyway you look at it.
I mean, someone says one sin's not worse than another. Maybe
not, but those are still biggies. He committed premeditated murder
and he committed adultery. And you remember when God sent
the prophet to him, Nathan. And he told him that story about
that little old man who had a little lamb that he loved so dearly. And he treated it as if it were
his child. It was his child. And there was
a rich man who had all kinds of lambs and all kind of money
and had everything that you could want. And a visitor came to him
and he said, well, I don't want to use any of my lambs. So he
said, go get our neighbor's lamb and kill it. and dress it and
give it to our visitor. And so he sent his servants off
and they took that man's lamb that he loved so dearly and brought
it and killed it and he fed his guests. David heard this and
David said, get him and kill him. As the Lord liveth, that
man is not going to live. He was mad. And Nathan looked
at him and said, thou art the man. Thou art the man. And David's conscience smote
him and he said, I've sinned. And Nathan, the first thing he
said is, The Lord hath put away thy sin. He appeared to put away sin. by the sacrifice of Himself. And all those sins that oppress
me, He put them away. They are not. They're nothing. They're gone. He put them away. All my sins were put away before
I even committed. I love that. Let's read about this third appearance.
Look in verse 27 of our text in Hebrews chapter 9. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, here is an appointment you and
I must keep. We're going to die. Maybe soon,
maybe 20 years from now, I don't know. But we're going to die.
It's appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall
He appear the second time. without sin unto salvation. Now here is the future appearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ, one that has not taken place yet,
but most certainly will. And what an appearing that will
be. You know, when he comes back, the scripture says he's going
to come back as a thief in the night. Anytime somebody predicts
when he'll come back, write it down. It won't be then. Nobody
will know when he comes back, but he's coming back at God's
appointed time. And when he does come back, everybody's going
to know who he is. He's going to come back like
lightning in the midnight sky. And everybody is going to know
who he is when he comes with power and much glory. And it says he shall appear without
sin. Now, remember, he carried that
sin in his own body on the tree. That's why he died. Thinking about Jesus Christ dying
just blows my mind. I don't understand how the God-man
could die, but He did. He died, He carried my sin into
that tomb, and it's gone. And when He appears the second
time, He'll appear the second time without sin. My sin was put away. And therefore,
I can look at His appearing, or I can look for His appearing
without fear. You know, people use the second
coming of Christ to try to motivate people and scare them. You know,
you wouldn't want to be doing that if Christ came back or you wouldn't
want to be guilty. When he comes back for his people, he comes
back without sin. Look in verse John chapter 3
once again. Verse 1, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. Just as Christ is the Son of
God, we're in Him. We're sons of God. We have royalty
going through our blood, going through our veins. True sons
of God. Join heirs with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now are we the sons of God. Next time you're looking for
significance, here it is. I'm a son of God. Next time you're
looking for self-worth, well, you don't have any worth in yourself,
but here's your worth in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a son
of God. Next time you're thinking, oh,
my life is so mundane. No, it's not. You're a son of
God. It's all sacred. Beloved, now are we sons of God,
and it does not yet appear what we shall be. I can relate. John, speaking under the inspiration
of God the Holy Spirit, says, when we're like Christ, we have
no idea what that means. It doesn't appear. Can you even
imagine being without sin? Can you imagine being without
a sinful thought? Without a sinful motive? Without
whatever it is that passes through our mind? John even writing under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, it does not yet appear
what we shall be. We don't understand it. But, we know this. When He shall appear,
We shall be like Him. God's purpose and predestination
realized. We shall be like Him. Perfectly conformed to His image,
for we shall see Him as He is. Look in 1 John 2 verse 28, And
now, little children, Abide in Him, that when He shall appear,
we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His
coming." If I'm in Him, I have confidence. I have nothing to
be ashamed of at His coming when He appears. Let me show you another
Scripture. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. And I can, I'm not adding anything
into the scripture, but remember what he's doing there. Making
intercession for you, for me, representing me. He says in verse
two, set your affection on things above. not on things on the earth,
for you are dead." All the stuff that's been going
on in our society, the economic collapse, all the horrible things
that take place. Go into a graveyard and ask a
dead man what he thinks about it. He's utterly unconcerned. He's
not even aware of it. You are dead, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. Well, that's a great place to
be, hidden with Christ in God, when Christ, notice that who
is, is in italics. It could read, when Christ, our
life shall appear. Now, here's my life before God. Whatever Christ did in His life,
that's my life. That's my righteousness before
God. When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear
with Him. Now, you know when Christ comes
back, I don't, this is hard to, you just believe it, you don't
much understand it. I'll be right here. When Christ comes back,
I'm going to see Him coming. I'm going to be right here, but
it's equally true that when He shall appear, you know who else
is going to appear? Every single one of His people because we're
all united to Him and in Him. And when He comes back, we appear
with Him. That's why Paul called this the
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And who does He appear for? Who
does He appear for? In our text, it says, he shall
appear to them that look for him. Hebrews 9, 28. Here's who
he appears for. To them that look for him. To
them that look for him. Shall he appear without sin unto
salvation? Now that word look there, it's
not talking about so much somebody looking for his second return,
although that's certainly included in it, but it's talking about
those who eagerly expect him. who confidently await Him." We
wait for His appearing. Now, turn back to that first
scripture I read in 2 Timothy chapter 4. "...unto them who eagerly await
His appearing." Look in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6, Paul says,
"...for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure
is at hand." I love the way he calls his death a departure.
I mean, like a ship going off to sea. My departure. Oh, what a blessed time that
will be. My departure. I'm ready to be
offered. The time of my departure is at
hand. I fought a good fight. I said this a couple of weeks
ago when commenting on this passage of scripture. Remember this,
if Jesus Christ fought a good fight, I did too. I don't look
over my life and say, boy, I fought a good fight. No, I feel many
failures and weakness, and I don't, boy, I've done well, I'm ready
to go, good to go. No, I'm not saying that. But
if Jesus Christ fought a good fight, I did too. Remember, his life
is my life. And Paul could say, and I tell
you what, I want to be able to say this at the end. I fought
a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. By God's grace, I've been faithful. I finished the course He gave
me to run. And I've kept the faith. Verse
8. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. Now, this crown of righteousness
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This isn't some kind
of special crown that only Paul is going to get. Have you all
ever come across those five different crowns? You know, the soul winner's
crown, the crown of righteousness crown, all these different kind
of crowns. I guess they think people will be in heaven. You
know, some have one crown, some have five. I don't know how they
balance them up on there, you know, but they walk around with
all these crowns under their heads. That's foolishness. That's foolishness. It's evil.
This crown of righteousness is the right, the only righteousness
there is, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now this crown
of righteousness, look what it says in verse 8. Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing. Now would that be you? Do you love His appearing? Do
you love His appearing as your intercessor, standing before
God for you? He stands there and you're accepted. It's not like He's pleading,
oh, let Him get by. This time I know He did it again.
No, that's not His intercession. He stands before the Father and
I'm righteous before God in Him. That's His intercession. Do you
love His appearing right now in the presence of God for you?
Do you love, secondly, His first appearing when He was made flesh
and the angels sang in His birth, on earth, peace? goodwill toward
men. I love the way the angels tried
to describe him at his first, when he was first, they said
that holy, the angels couldn't come up with a word, they said
that holy thing which is in you shall be called the son of the
highest. Do you love his life on earth
when he kept God's law perfectly? He honored God in everything
he said, everything he thought, everything he did. He kept the
law, and oh, His appearing in His death. This is why He came,
to die, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Do you
love His appearing? Do you love His future appearing?
Do you love the thought of Him coming? And you have nothing
to fear. And you will see Him as He is. Not as He was, but as He is. I don't even know what to say
about that. Who can describe Him? But you'll
see Him as He is in all His resplendent glory. Do you love His appearing? When
every eye is going to see Him? When unbelievers are going to
be made to see that He is who He said He is? Do you love His
appearing. Now to everybody that loves His
appearing, there's laid up for them a crown of righteousness. I do love, I do love His appearing. Henceforth there's laid up for
me a crown of righteousness. Let's pray.